The invention relates to a turbofan engine.
Turbofan engines are also referred to as turbofans or bypass engines. They are characterized by the fan (also referred to as a blower) being driven by a turbine that is arranged behind the combustion chamber of the turbofan engine, wherein a large portion of the air mass that is sucked in by the engine is accelerated past a core engine that comprises the combustion chamber. Here, the turbofan engine forms a primary flow channel through the core engine as well as a secondary flow channel for an outer fluid flow that is guided past the core engine.
Different components, such as conduits, struts or adjustable coupling elements, are arranged inside the turbofan engine and in particular extend through the secondary flow channel. They have to be guided partially through the secondary flow channel radially outwards. For example, air or oil is conducted in corresponding conduits, or the latter as are power or signal lines. Adjustable coupling elements that are guided radially through the secondary flow channel may for example serve for the mechanical coupling and driving of systems that are positioned radially outside with respect to the core engine within the engine housing to provide better cooling, such as for example auxiliary gear boxes, a fuel pump, oil pump or generator. In order to guide the respective components through the secondary flow channel in such a way that they are protected from outer influences and are less interfering from the aerodynamic perspective, a splitter fairing is usually provided, by which the respective components are cased inside the secondary flow channel, so that a fluid flowing inside the flow channel is guided past the component in a manner that is as advantageous as possible with a view to aerodynamic aspects. This splitter fairing is arranged inside a secondary flow channel and extends inside the secondary flow channel in particular in the radial direction with respect to a central axis of the turbofan engine.
In order to provide a controlled guiding of the fluid flow around the splitter fairing, the splitter fairing has an end element which has a leading edge section that is facing towards the fluid flow and/or a trailing edge section that lies in the flow direction of the fluid flow. In practice, such splitter fairings are structural components having a comparatively simple structural design and usually being fixated at a radially inner and/or radially outer wall of the secondary flow channel. For example, what is thus shown also in US 2014/0060079 A1 is a splitter fairing for a shaft that is guided radially inside a secondary flow channel and that has a semi-circular cross section and behind which—as viewed in the flow direction of the fluid flow inside the secondary flow channel—the shaft leading to the gear unit extends. At that, the splitter fairing that is thus integrating an end element with a leading edge section is inserted into a mounting opening at an outer wall of the secondary flow channel, and is fixated by means of multiple bolts.
US 2014/0140820 A1 also describes a comparable splitter fairing with an end element that is formed integrally at the same for casing the conduits that are guided through the secondary flow channel. At that, the splitter fairings shown herein are fixated in a form-fit manner at a radially inner as well as a radially outer wall of the secondary flow channel.
However, the splitter fairings that are disclosed in US 2014/0060079 A1 and US 2014/0140820 A1 as well as the splitter fairings that are used in practice for being arranged inside a secondary flow channel are comparatively disadvantageous when it comes to maintaining and repairing the turbofan engine, as they make access to components located inside and/or above or below the splitter fairing considerably harder. Besides, a compromise always has to be found for example if fluid conduits are to be guided inside a hollow-cylindrical splitter fairing, and thus the splitter fairing has to be designed with a view to a possible bursting of a conduit in the event that high pressures, aggressive liquids or gases are present, and/or has to be designed so as to be fire-proof, while at the same time the splitter fairing has to have an aerodynamically advantageous design.